Debate heats up

If you haven’t seen Prop 8: The Musical, you’re missing out.

This great internet video was written by Marc Shaiman in response to the passage of Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage in California during the recent US elections. Featuring stars including Jack Black (as Jesus), Margaret Cho and Neil Patrick Harris, it’s an irreverent response to the debate around same-sex marriage currently raging in the USA.

Thousands of people across America have protested for same-sex marriage equality. Celebrities and politicians, both gay and straight, have announced their unequivocal support for gay rights. Talk shows from The View to Larry King have put arguments in favour of equality.

Polls show that the mass movement, and the discussion it has prompted, has had a real effect with support for the issue increasing significantly since the election. If a new proposition legalising same-sex marriage was taken to the ballot in 2010, it’s likely that it would pass.

In contrast, when legislation removing discrimination against same-sex couples and their children finally passed through both houses of federal Parliament recently, the mainstream media hardly noticed. Perhaps this was due to the lengthy to-and-fro in the Senate dealing with amendments, or maybe same-sex equality just isn’t that controversial any more. Either way, one can’t help but feel that 58’08: The Musical would be a far less exciting affair.

Now that de facto equality for same-sex couples has been achieved, the debate around formal relationship recognition, including same-sex marriage, is likely to heat up in Australia. The GLRL’s position is clear -” our community deserves full equality in all areas of the law.

Building and demonstrating strong community support will be essential to this cause. However, this needs to be done in conjunction with community consultation so that we can best represent the interests and expectations of lesbians and gay men. As with the 58’08 campaign, we need to work closely with politicians on both sides of the debate to garner as much support as possible.

It was our loves, our lives and our stories that got us this far and will continue to drive our community towards equality in 2009.